To provide participants with a formula for training digital campaign strategy

To reflect on how these modules might be used in their own trainings

1. Introduction

Lead: Mary Joyce Time: 10 minutes

Goal: To introduce agenda of the day and pedagogical notes on Powerpoint

Description: The agenda of the day is briefly presented and the pedagogical icons in the Powerpoint are explained.

2. Icebreaker

Lead: Mary Joyce Time: 30 minutes

What's Your Cause?

Goal: To put the participants in the mindset of the activists they will be training, we begin by talking about causes. Game is mobile, creating high energy and engagement for the rest of the day and helps us learn what each participant is passionate about. This also ensures that they are identifying their own causes and we are not imposing causes on them.

Description: Each participant writes down their cause on a piece of paper (half an 8x11/A4 sheet or post-it). It could be something they are actively working on or just something they care about. The pieces of paper are collected by the facilitator and then one is randomly taped to each participant’s back. Then the participants walk around the room and, by asking each other questions about the cause, figure out what cause is written on their back. At the end of the exercise, we go around in a circle and each person shares with the group the cause they had on their back. Then the person who wrote the cause identifies themselves and explains why they care about the cause.

3. Key Terms

Lead: Mary Joyce Time: 45 minutes

Goal: To ensure that participants who do not have a background in activism understand the concepts of "campaign" and "strategy"

Description: First the question "what is a campaign" is asked. Two examples are given and then participants give examples from their own countries, which are written down for future reference. A final definition is then displayed. Then the video "Story of Electronics" is shown. (The e-waste theme of the video will serve as a central case study throughout the day.) Before watching the video, participants are given the prompt, "What are some campaigns that could be created around this issue?" These campaign ideas are shared after the video. The goal is to demonstrate that campaigns do not create themselves, but are created by activists who decide the best way to make a change given an injustice they identify. There may be many good campaigns around a single issue. Next, we move on to strategy with the prompt, "What would make these campaigns strategic?". A visualization is presented in Powerpoint to aid the discussion, which arrives at a final definition. The trainer's reflection asks participants if their trainees - who are already activists - would need this module, and if so, how it might be customized.

Break

4. Objective

Lead: Mary Joyce (Guest Speaker: Nadine Haddad) Time: 30 minutes

Goal: To clarify the difference between long-term mission and short-term campaign goals.

Description: This session begins with a presentation by Nadine Haddad of local Beirut e-waste organization Beeatoona, describing the organization's history, goals, and activities. The prompt that follows asks how Beeatoona's campaign goals are connected to its organizational mission. A visualization is presented in Powerpoint to assist the conversation and show how the two are different but connected. The trainer's reflection asks participants if their trainees - who are already activists - would need this module, and if so, how it might be customized.

5. Communications Strategy

Lead: Mary Joyce (Guest Speaker: Nadine Haddad) Time: 60 minutes

Goal: To define and apply the three main concepts of communications strategy - action, audience, and message.

Description: This session begins by highlighting the three main concepts of communications strategy - action, audience, and message. As the concepts are presented through Powerpoint slides, the participants are asked to refer back to a Beeatoona campaign for examples. Particular focus is given to audience. Participants are asked to name all the potential audiences that Beeatoona might need to reach out to in order to achieve its goal. The most important types - targets and supporters - are highlighted, and it is explained how supporters have influence over the target. A particular question is posed about the role of the media, which is used as a segue to defining message. Again, the participants are asked to apply this to the Beeatoona case. The elements of a strong message are presented, and as an example, participants are asked to apply the principles themselves with regard to e-waste. In a final small group activity, each country group is asked to select a Beeatoona audience and develop a strong message for that audience. The countries will identify at least one supporter group, one target, and one media example. The trainer's reflection asks participants if this framework applies in their countries and what campaign example(s) they would use.

Lunch

6. Media Choices

Lead: Mary Joyce (Guest Speaker: Mohamad Najem) Time: 45 minutes

Goal: To present and apply a simple framework for making media decisions around a campaign.

Description: This session begins by presenting the simple attention/access model for media decisions and some examples to clarify how the model is used. Next the Social Media Cards Simplified Set is passed out and the applications explained. Then, in country groups, the participants are asked to create a "6-point" media plan based on the communications strategies they developed before lunch. In order to inspire the groups about the usefulness of social media, Mohamad Najem describes his own experience using social media for an e-transactions campaign in Lebanon. The groups create their plans and report back on how they made media choices for their specific audience. The trainer's reflection asks participants if they would use the same framework and cards in their country.

7. Networked Campaigns

Lead: Mary Joyce Time: 20 minutes

Goal: To link together the two strategy days.

Description: In this session, the group briefly brainstorms how a networked and fortress organization might run a campaign, bringing together the strategic lessons learned the previous day. The trainer's reflection asks participants for other ideas on how to link together multiple training days.

Break

8. Final Exercise

Lead: Mary Joyce Time: 90 minutes

Goal: To bring together all the day's content in a campaign media action plan.

Description: This session begins with a brief discussion of campaign evaluation metrics, not necessarily how to make those measurements, but what to measure. In the Media Choices module each country group created a media plan for a single audience. One of those examples is now used in an exercise that shows how to make an action plan by working backwards from goals to milestones to tasks. Next it is time to combine the three remaining plans into a single media plan for the whole campaign, including actions, audiences, messages, and evaluation in a clear action plan with specific deadlines. The participants are divided into two teams for this task and one will be named the winner. The trainer's reflection asks each participants to select from a list of all the days' modules one that they will definitely use, one that they will use but change, and one that they will not use. Then they share with group.